The BRUTISH EMPIRE

It’s Roy versus Roy as the ruthless siblings fight to usurp their tyrannical father

SUCCESSION Monday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Exactly what is it that makes Succession so good? The US-made comedy drama has been widely praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic as the best show around on TV as it returns for a third series.

It’s not just the way it combines the epic saga of a ruthless family in the tradition of The Sopranos – in this case a multinational media dynasty rather than a

Mafia clan – with the pitch-black humour of The Thick Of It (with which it shares its writer, Jesse Armstrong), plus a sense of reallife events in business and politics.

There are also the powerhouse performances that bring unforgettable, if wickedly amoral, characters to life, most of all the magisterial Brian Cox as company mogul and family patriarch

Logan Roy. And what a moment for the story to resume, after the cliffhanger ending to the previous series left Logan on the brink of losing power when his scheming son Kendall (Jeremy Strong) exposed human rights abuses and allegations of sexual misconduct at the family’s giant corporation, Waystar Royco.

Logan is sceptical about whether Kendall’s newly ethical philosophy is sincere, and there’s another question: where are the other children going to place their loyalties? Will the highly strung Roman (Kieran Culkin) and the more sober Shiv (Sarah Snook), with her husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), back brother or father in the battle for power – or will they seize the opportunity to take control themselves?

This series sees the introduction of major new stars to add to an already outstanding ensemble of players, with Adrien Brody joining as an eccentric investor who’s set to be courted by all sides, while Alexander Skarsgard plays a tech billionaire who also has a crucial role to play as the plot develops.

What’s immediately apparent in series three is how Succession’s cruelly precise brand of humour is funnier than ever. Subject matter that in other hands would make for dour corporate drama is instead the platform for brilliant

POWER PLAY: From left: Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Nicholas Braun, Alan Ruck, Sarah Snook, Brian Cox and Matthew Macfadyen

comedy, as the increasingly deranged Kendall worries less about the billions at stake than his social-media image. Meanwhile, Logan laces his air of terrifying menace with hilariously inventive swearing to outstrip even The Thick Of It’s Malcolm Tucker.

Just one thing, though – however much you might want to share the choicest quotes, try to resist repeating these X-rated pearls in polite company.